Minneapolis city council nomination brawlers could be expelled from Minnesota Democratic Party
https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-fight-dfl-city-council-8c8fb4a25cf33753fd3aef81098535fb
Minneapolis city council nomination brawlers could be expelled from Minnesota Democratic Party
Associated Press
By Josh Funk and Trisha Ahmed
May 15, 2023
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Democratic Party will consider expelling anyone involved in a brawl that broke out at a political event to nominate candidates for a Minneapolis City Council seat.
At least two people were injured in Saturday’s confrontation. The head of the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Chair Ken Martin, said on Twitter that he plans to call an emergency meeting later this week to consider banning anyone involved in the assaults from the DFL Party, an affiliate of the national Democratic Party.
Video posted on social media showed the disturbance began after supporters of Minneapolis Council Member Aisha Chughtai took the stage, which caused an uproar among supporters of her challenger, Nasri Warsame. Some Warsame supporters then jumped on stage, shouting, banging on tables and waving signs.
As supporters of both candidates pushed and shoved each other, a party official repeatedly banged a gavel and tried to quiet the crowd but was ignored.
“I was scared some of us might die,” said Bridget Siljander, who was on the stage with other Chughtai supporters when they saw people punching, shoving and pushing each other on the floor.
“It was complete chaos,” Siljander said, adding they were terrified the fight would turn into a stampede and that it felt — in the moment — like an insurrection. Siljander said those who incited the violence should be removed from the party and criminally charged.
Convention chair Sam Doten called the behavior embarrassing and adjourned the event without a nominee being chosen, saying it was no longer safe. It wasn’t immediately clear Sunday how the party would proceed with choosing a nominee.
Minneapolis neighborhoods face food desert after looting closes multiple stores
Minneapolis neighborhoods face food desert after looting closes multiple stores
By John Ewoldt
June 2, 2020
With Cub, Target, two Aldi stores and many small markets damaged by rioting over the past week, Longfellow and about eight other neighborhoods have nearly become a food desert.
“I consider the loss of these businesses devastating,” said Melanie Majors, executive director of the Longfellow Community Council. “Besides just the food, there’s a lack of retail for diapers, formula, household goods, even clothing.”
Many residents of the area shop lower-priced stores such as Aldi or dollar stores. Two of those dollar stores — including Family Dollar on Lake Street — were destroyed in last week’s looting and violence that arose after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis police custody.
One Aldi store on E. Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis reopened Monday after power was restored to it. The frozen foods section had been cleared out due to the outage that started late last week, but shelves were being restocked Monday.
Shashana Craft of Maple Grove purchased groceries there Monday for Headway Emotional Health Services, where she works with Indigenous families.
“I’ve never seen the shelves this empty,” she said. “If people can’t get to their grocery store, they should check with churches or support groups offering free food and groceries.”
Majors said a few places were offering free food and supplies: Holy Trinity Lutheran Church near 31st Street and Minnehaha Avenue; Heart of the Beast Theatre at S. 15th Avenue and E. Lake; and Sanford Middle School at E. 35th Street and S. 42nd Avenue.
Amplifying the problem over the weekend and again on Monday was the fact that Metro Transit was not operating buses or trains. Public transportation will again be shut down on Tuesday.
Sylvester Hudson walked about 40 minutes from Fort Snelling Apartments to the Cub Foods at E. 46th Street and Hiawatha Avenue.
It is the only supermarket left in the Longfellow neighborhood along the light-rail line after four other supermarkets closed because of destruction during the protests.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to catch a cab, so I’ll probably have to walk,” said Hudson, 70, who brought a two-wheeled cart for grocery transport, as he finished shopping at Cub Foods. “This is the only store left open in the neighborhood that I can walk to.”
Area residents with a vehicle could find open supermarkets nearby at Longfellow Market, S. 38th Avenue and E. Lake, and Lunds & Byerlys in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood.
Although shorter on Monday, there were lines out the door at several of the city markets on Sunday, similar to when Gov. Tim Walz first issued the stay-at-home order to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Business has been up more than 60% at Longfellow Market since the other stores were forced to close, according to manager Terry Mahowald.
“We never planned to be this busy,” he said. “Everyone’s stressed. This is certainly not the way we wanted to increase traffic.”
He plans to add more lower-priced, generic items to help keep prices reasonable for shoppers at the natural and organic grocery.
Home delivery through Shipt or Instacart isn’t an option for the neighborhoods, either.
Delivery services usually pick from stores nearby. With four of them closed, other arrangements are being made.
Target owns Shipt and is working on arrangements to fill delivery orders through other Targets, a spokeswoman said. The Minneapolis-based retailer also has pledged to rebuild the Lake Street store, hopefully by the end of the year.
Mahowald thanked neighborhood volunteers for saving the Longfellow Market.
“We’ve had nearly 25 people from the neighborhood guarding it every night since Tuesday,” he said.
In Minneapolis, evil protestors are upset that the police killed Andrew Sundberg after he fired bullets into a family’s apartment
https://www.yahoo.com/news/minneapolis-mom-confronts-blm-protesters-122418182.html
Minneapolis Mom Confronts BLM Protesters after Apartment Shooting: ‘Not a George Floyd Situation’
By Caroline Downey
July 18, 2022
A Minneapolis mom was captured on video Saturday confronting Black Lives Matter activists who congregated in her neighborhood to protest the fatal police shooting of a gunman who she claimed tried to kill her and her children.
Arabella Foss-Yarbrough called police last Wednesday night after neighbor Andrew “Tekle” Sundberg allegedly fired his gun into her home as she cooked her kids dinner, leaving bullet holes in her front door, walls and above her bathroom sink, photos show.
Two Minneapolis police snipers shot him dead Thursday morning after a long standoff. A pistol with an extended magazine and several bullet casings was found in his apartment, the New York Post reported.
“This is not a George Floyd situation. George Floyd was unarmed. This is not OK,” Foss-Yarbrough launched at the protesters who gathered for a march and rally for the man on Saturday, according to the video. “He tried to kill me in front of my kids.”
https://twitter.com/DeevonRahming/status/1548439171693367301
Ignoring the mom’s pleas for peace on her street, the protesters claimed injustice was done and commemorated Sundberg’s death, leaving candles and flowers around his chalked name on the sidewalk, photos from the Star Tribune indicate.
One protester can be heard telling Foss-Yarbrough “this is not the time” as she recounted the terror she and her children felt as bullets slammed into their home.
The head of BLM Minnesota, Trahern Crews, joined the march to call for transparency from police.
“We’re here to respect life, demand justice, and we’re demanding the release of the body cam footage,” Crews said, according to the Star Tribune.
Foss-Yarbrough was near hysterical with emotion as she confronted the activists, exasperated that they could defend someone who she said attempted murder on her family.
“I can’t get my items because you guys are celebrated his life,” the mom screamed through tears. “This is not ok. My kids have to deal with this and probably have a mental illness now. Because they almost lost their lives. There’s bullet holes in my kitchen because he sat in the f–king hallway watching me move.”
Appealing to her mixed minority race, the mom seemed upset that the protesters were advocating for the gunman’s lost life but not those of her and her children.
“I have Black children; I am a woman of color!,” she declared. “If I would have lost my life, would you guys do this for me?” “Yes, ma’am,” Crews said.
During the mother’s tirade, Sundberg’s parents stood with the protesters. They offered words of concern for her to the Post while still holding that their son’s shooting was unjust. They claimed that Sundberg had been struggling with mental illness when he fired into the home.
“I wish I could wrap my arms around her and tell her I’m so sorry,” Cindy Sundberg said. “I’m so sorry she had to experience that I’m so sorry for her pain.”
“Tekle was an imperfect human as we are all imperfect humans and he did not deserve to be picked off like an animal from a rooftop,” she said.
Zero jail time for Black Lives Matter arsonist who set a school on fire
Man who tried to burn Minnesota school during BLM riots gets probation
By Andrew Mark Miller
February 5, 2022
A man convicted of attempting to set fire to a high school during the Black Lives Matter riots in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd has been sentenced to five years probation.
Mohamed Hussein Abdi, 20, was handed the probation sentence in a U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, Thursday after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit arson, according to court documents obtained by Fox News.
Abdi was also ordered to pay just over $34,000 in restitution to Gordon Parks High School in St. Paul.
Court documents state that the sentence was “imposed pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.”
The presiding judge, Reagan-appointed District Court Judge David S. Doty, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.
Abdi was arrested in June 2020, a month after he entered the high school through a broken glass door during the Floyd riot and could be seen on security footage pouring liquid from a white container onto the floor and then into a trashcan. Abdi then took a liquid-soaked garment and sent fire to the trash can before running away as flames and smoke began to spread.
It has been estimated that rioting across the nation following Floyd’s death destroyed over $1 billion worth of property.
More than 1,500 businesses in the Minneapolis St. Paul area were damaged or destroyed during the riots totaling roughly $500 million in damages.
BLM kidnappers hold politician hostage for 2 hours, force her to sign list of demands
I hope these kidnappers get prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
This is yet one more reason why I think it should be legal for drivers to run over people who deliberately and illegally block traffic.
Activists block Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins until she agrees to demands
Confrontation turns tense as protesters push Jenkins to sign a list of demands.
By Liz Navratil
June 29, 2021
Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins and Mayor Jacob Frey on Tuesday condemned the tactics of protesters who shouted at Jenkins and blocked her from leaving an event in Loring Park until she agreed to a list of their demands.
A 23-minute video showing a portion of their lengthy confrontation Sunday circulated on social media. Throughout the video, protesters rattled off demands — some of which Jenkins quickly agreed to, and some of which she pushed back on, insisting she needed to represent the people who live in her ward.
In the end, Jenkins signed a list of demands agreeing, among other things, to “leave George Floyd Square alone,” support the creation of a civilian-led commission to oversee police, and call for the mayor’s resignation. After she signed, people agreed to step away, clearing the way for the car she was riding in to drive off.
The encounter comes at a tense time, when re-election campaigns are escalating and residents are making conflicting demands as the city debates how to transform policing following George Floyd’s death. Over the past year, some elected officials have raised concerns about the tactics protesters are using.
In a statement posted on Facebook, Jenkins said she was “verbally attacked, berated and held ‘hostage’ against my will by a large group of angry protesters.”
She added: “Every citizen of this City has a right to bring forward their concerns, but no citizen has the right to detain and coerce anyone to do anything, that includes elected officials.”
Frey echoed that sentiment Tuesday afternoon.
“Holding people for hours against their will until they make a statement under duress is completely unacceptable,” he said. “It’s wrong.”
Activist D.J. Hooker, who posted the video to social media, said in an interview that the encounter lasted approximately two hours. He said he approached Jenkins after a Taking Back Pride event decrying police brutality. The event, according to a posting on social media, sought to prioritize the voices of people who are Black, transgender or queer. Jenkins was the first transgender woman of color elected to public office in a major U.S. city.
Hooker said he approached Jenkins to raise concerns about community groups contracted with the city to de-escalate tensions.
Hooker said he grew frustrated when Jenkins told him she didn’t have control over them and she wouldn’t commit to leaving George Floyd Square alone, so he said they would hold a peaceful protest outside her house. Hooker said he and Jenkins argued and someone jumped between them.
Hooker said Jenkins began walking away and he yelled, “Oh, you’re gonna call the cops on me knowing … what the cops have done to George Floyd, what the cops have done to Dolal Idd and Winston Smith and Daunte Wright.”
The video posted to social media begins with Hooker narrating and shows Jenkins sitting in the passenger seat of a white car, as people stand on three sides of it. A white post is behind the car.
Jenkins, who is on the phone, tells someone it might be “three days before I get out of here.”
Jenkins then sits quietly, her hands pressed together as Hooker expresses frustration that city officials haven’t done more to reduce police brutality.
Hooker begins reading off the list of demands, one by one. He asks if she will pledge her support for the creation of an elected, civilian commission to oversee police, for reopening cases in police killings, for dropping charges against protesters and releasing information about Smith’s death. Each time, Jenkins says yes.
Hooker then asks her to pledge her support “for Jacob Frey’s immediate resignation.” Jenkins laughs, shakes her head side to side and, after additional prompting from protesters, eventually says, “Jacob Frey resign.”
Hooker then asks her to “leave George Floyd Square alone. Period.”
Jenkins responds: “Don’t do my job, is that what you’re asking me to do?”
The two begin talking over each other, and Jenkins adds: “I was elected to represent that neighborhood, so what you’re asking me to do is to not do my job.”
Several people in the crowd begin shouting. Jenkins rolls up her window, saying she won’t sign anything, and people in the crowd continue to shout over each other.
A couple minutes later, Jenkins rolls down her window, and Hooker repeats the demand to leave the square alone.
“Fine, I’ll leave George Floyd Square alone,” Jenkins said. “I will not do my job.”
Eventually the person in the driver’s seat says this isn’t a negotiation. Someone in the crowd says they’re not asking, “we’re demanding,” and tells the person to “do your job and drive.” The driver raises their middle finger. Jenkins pushes the driver’s arm down, grabs the piece of paper with the demands and signs it. Protesters then ask her to print her name and date it.
Jenkins said she didn’t run to deal with situations like that.
“I ran to represent people. That’s what I did,” Jenkins says to the crowd. “You stand up and do that one day.”
A short bit later, people moved out of the way, and the car drove away.
Hooker said in an interview that they confronted Jenkins because they were tired of elected leaders making promises on policing and not following through. He said he would be surprised if Jenkins followed through on the document she signed.
Minneapolis City Council candidate encourages rioters to burn down wealthy neighborhood
Minneapolis City Council candidate encourages rioters to burn down wealthy neighborhood
According to her campaign website, Ortega was a policy aide at Minneapolis City Hall and spent ten years working in city government.
By Anthony Gockowski-
April 17, 2021
A Minneapolis City Council candidate encouraged those who “feel like burning shit down” to target the city’s wealthiest residents instead of causing further damage to poor communities.
“Just a personal thought — just in case y’all feel like burning shit down, the poor community is not your oppressors. FYI — lake of the isles has more then [sic] needed and won’t be missed,” Rita Ortega wrote on her personal Facebook page, which is under her full name of Margarita, according to screenshots shared widely on social media Friday.
A popular tourist attraction, Lake of the Isles is surrounded by some of Minneapolis’ most luxurious homes, owned by the city’s wealthiest residents.
Presumably, Ortega’s comments were made in the context of this week’s riotous behavior in Brooklyn Center, where 20-year-old Daunte Wright was killed by police Sunday.
In a follow-up post, Ortega seemed to argue that her comments were justified because the wealthy “have the insurance and means to rebuild.”
“Division has been created and continues not by my hands. I’m not the greedy one living in million dollar mansions while people are sleeping in tents and on the street,” she said.
Ortega said she went to visit Lake of the Isles to “pray for healing, just to be met with more pain of seeing another injustice, that our home is not ours and the rich get to live in happiness and luxury where our ancestors used to pray and live.”
According to her campaign website, Ortega was a policy aide at Minneapolis City Hall and spent 10 years working in city government.
She was profiled in the Washington Post Monday and said she has “always felt we’ve never really needed the police.”
“The only way forward is abolishing the police,” she said on Twitter shortly after Wright’s death. “No institution should be allowed to murder in our communities with impunity.”
New York State Supreme Court rules against the New York Times’s request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit that was filed by Project Veritas
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
April 5, 2021
Project Veritas published this video about voter fraud in Minneapolis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWK56l2VaLY
Afterward, the New York Times published a news article, which refers to the video as “deceptive.”
You can read the New York Times article at this link:
Project Veritas then sued the New York Time for defamation.
The New York Times tried to get the lawsuit dismissed by claiming that the writer was expressing her opinion, and that it was not a statement of fact.
However, The New York State Supreme Court ruled that because the New York Times accusation of deception was in a news article, and not an opinion column, the lawsuit can proceed.
Now, in order to defend itself, the New York Times must prove that the video is deceptive.
You can read the court’s ruling at this link:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20518694-order_denying_motion_to_dismiss
And here’s an article about the court’s ruling:
I’m no legal expert. But I am curious to see what the New York Times will do in order to prove that the video is deceptive.
James O’Keefe DROPS A MOAB! — Project Veritas Releases EXPLOSIVE Video of Ilhan Omar Connected Harvester EXCHANGING CASH FOR BALLOTS! –VIDEO
James O’Keefe DROPS A MOAB! — Project Veritas Releases EXPLOSIVE Video of Ilhan Omar Connected Harvester EXCHANGING CASH FOR BALLOTS! –VIDEO
By Jim Hoft
September 28, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV7oDl8yDZk
James O’Keefe III released the second blockbuster video exposing voter fraud and ballot harvesting by Ilhan Omar connected political operatives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
After his appearance on Hannity James gave a 10 minute warning on his latest release.
https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1310766864407158784
James O’Keefe III and Project Veritas tonight released video of an Ilhan Omar connected ballot harvester exchanging $200 for a general election ballot.
The Project Veritas investigation exposed the pay-for-vote scheme in Minnesota. According to those involved in the scandal Ilhan Omar is the one who came up with the voter fraud scheme.
https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1310768777345347584
The President weighs in.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1310796979954483200
Here is the full video from Project Veritas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV7oDl8yDZk
Minneapolis City Council alarmed by crime surge after defunding police
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME
Minneapolis City Council alarmed by crime surge after defunding police
By Megan Henney
September 16, 2020
Minneapolis City Council members, who just two months ago moved to eliminate the police department, sounded the alarm during a Wednesday meeting about a surge in crime seen by their constituents.
Council members pressed Police Chief Medaria Arradondo about the uptick in crimes that included daylight carjackings, robberies, assaults, shootings and street racing.
“Residents are asking, ‘Where are the police?’” said Council Member Jamal Osman, noting that constituents’ calls to the Minneapolis Police Department have gone unanswered. “That is the only public safety option they have at the moment. MPD. They rely on MPD. And they are saying they are nowhere to be seen.”
Council President Lisa Bender accused police of intentionally not enforcing laws or making arrests.
“This is not new,” Bender said. “But it is very concerning in the current context.”
Arradondo, who has served as police chief since 2017, called her comments “troubling to hear” and pledged to address the issue with departmental supervisors.
“We need to make sure that our communities know that we are going to be there, that we’re going to be responsive,” he said. “We’ve taken an oath to do that.”
The Minneapolis Police Department’s crime data shows a rise in assaults, robberies and homicides, as well as property crimes and arson, according to Minnesota Public Radio. More people have been killed in the city in the first nine months of 2020 than those slain in all of last year.
Arradondo said about 100 officers have left the department or have taken a leave of absence since the start of the year, which is more than double the typical number of officers who either step down from the department or are inactive that year, MPR reported.
In July, the council took several steps toward dismantling the city’s police department, including approving an amendment to remove $1 million from the police department and reallocate it toward the health department to hire “violence interrupters” who are intended to defuse potentially violent situations.
The council had pledged earlier in the summer to dismantle the police department and replace it with a community-based system of public safety.
The council began focusing on police reforms after George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for close to eight minutes.
Floyd’s death, which was captured in a widely circulated bystander video, sparked protests — sometimes violent — that spread across the country. The officers were fired the day after Floyd’s death. One officer, Derek Chauvin, is charged with second-degree murder, while the three other officers who were present have been charged with aiding and abetting.
Video from Minneapolis: Some evil thug threw a metal trashcan lid at a police officer’s head
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NbSExV8CQ0
The totalitarian government of Minneapolis actually passed a law which forces convenience stores to sell certain foods
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
July 22, 2020
John Stossel’s newest column, which is about Minneapolis, states:
“They even tell supermarkets what cereal they must sell”
This was new information to me. I was curious, so I googled, and found out that in 2008, Minneapolis passed a law that forces convenience stores to sell a certain minimum amount of certain healthy foods. However, Stossel was mistaken in his claim that the law affected larger stores such as supermarkets.
In 2018, 10 years after the law passed, an article on it stated:
“… despite the increased availability of healthy foods, shopper surveys and home-food analyses showed no significant increase in people purchasing healthy foods in Minneapolis under the ordinance…”
In other words, the totalitarians who control the government of Minneapolis are forcing convenience stores to sell increased amounts of healthy foods that the stores’ actual customers do not want to buy.
Hypocrisy at its worst: June 26, 2020: “Minneapolis City Council unanimously votes on plan to dismantle police department.” June 26, 2020: “Minneapolis Council members get private security” funded by the city’s taxpayers.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
June 27, 2020
On June 26, 2020, Fox News reported:
“Minneapolis City Council unanimously votes on plan to dismantle police department”
On the same day, the Minneapolis affiliate of Fox News reported:
“Minneapolis Council members get private security…”
“The City of Minneapolis is spending $4,500 a day for private security for three council members…”
“… the private security details have cost the city $63,000 over the past three weeks…”
“… The hourly cost of private security is similar to the cost for a police officer…”
So these Minneapolis politicians voted to get rid of the police for the general population, but used the city’s taxpayers’ money to hire their own private security. This is extremely hypocritical. Shame on them.
Note from Daniel Alman: If you like this blog post that I wrote, you can buy my books from amazon, and/or donate to me via PayPal, using the links below:
Note from Daniel Alman: I’d like to recommend that you visit Whatfinger News. It’s a really awesome website.
After a vote to cancel the cops, Minneapolis sees its first mass shooting
After a Vote to Cancel the Cops, Minneapolis Sees Its First Mass Shooting
By Alex Parker
June 21, 2020
Maybe sometimes having police is better.
In Minneapolis — where law enforcement as we know it may be on its way out — a mass shooting occurred Saturday night.
As reported by CNN, the melee — which took place on Hennepin Avenue South — saw 12 people shot.
One has died, while the others have non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
The motive remains unclear, and no arrests have yet been made.
Arrests may be part of the Old World, anyway — as I covered previously, on June 12th, the Minneapolis City Council made the announcement that cops were canceled.
The five members who penned the resolution explained thusly:
“The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, by Minneapolis police officers is a tragedy that shows that no amount of reforms will prevent lethal violence and abuse by some members of the Police Department against members of our community, especially Black people and people of color.”
The police will be replaced by a “community-led public safety system.”
Whoever they are, they might wanna be armed — what took place Saturday night sounded like warfare.
Witness Erik Thompson at first thought he was hearing fireworks, but the explosions didn’t stop.
He recalled, “We started hearing whizzing by our ears, and it was the bullets coming towards us.”
Restaurant manager Fred Hwang said there were at least two groups shooting at one another.
More from CNN:
Police said the gunfire continued down a block early Sunday morning.
After the gunfire stopped and victims were taken to the hospital, Hwang said he surveyed the scene and found ammunition shell casings that appear to be from three different types of weapons.
Hennepin Avenue South was also recently the site of looting and mayhem in the aftermath of George Floyd’s terrible death at the hands of four Minneapolis law enforcement officers.
And given the City Council’s decision, the area may not be safer any time soon. As noted by RedState’s Bonchie just a little over a week ago, a replacement plan for the Men and Women in Blue isn’t securely in place:
Lisa Bender, the president of the Minneapolis City Council, really wants to destroy her local police department. What she doesn’t know is essentially anything that comes after that.
Hopefully, they’ll get that figured out.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for a great place in Minneapolis to hang out, Hennepin Ave. shouldn’t top your list.
And nationally, we could be asking for more bullets flying in more directions. The Hennepin incident brings to mind voices across the country crying, “Defund the Police.” People don’t seem exactly clear on what that means, but if you weaken law and order, something tells me you strengthen crime.
Perhaps not everyone agrees with me, but I’d be willing to bet some criminals do.
Neighborhoods where stores were destroyed become food deserts overnight
Neighborhoods where stores were destroyed become food deserts overnight
By Marielle Segarra
June 4, 2020
In many neighborhoods that have seen looting and vandalism over the past week, residents are now left with few — if any — grocery stores, pharmacies and other essential businesses. Which is made even harder by the fact that lots of stores are also closed because of the pandemic.
There’s a 6-mile long commercial corridor in South Minneapolis called Lake Street, and it has been destroyed.
“We no longer have pharmacies in our community,” said ZoeAna Martinez, who works for the Lake Street Council, a business association. “We no longer have gas stations as well. Our largest grocery stores are also gone,” Martinez said. “Right now, our community, we live in a food desert, which happened overnight.”
In Minneapolis and Saint Paul, hundreds of businesses have been damaged or burned to the ground. The same has happened in cities around the country.
“Pretty much half of a city block completely burned down Sunday night,” said Bea Rider, interim executive director of the New Kensington Community Development Corp., a neighborhood group in Philadelphia. Pharmacies, bodegas, clothing stores, check-cashing spots — all gone. And these losses hurt certain groups more than others.
“Low-income families who are underbanked, so they rely on check-cashing businesses, they’re definitely feeling a pinch,” Rider said.
Also, people who don’t have cars to drive to an intact store in the suburbs. And seniors who may have trouble getting around and who are more likely to need prescriptions filled.
“This is all in the background as the pandemic is still very much with us, and some businesses had curtailed certain degrees of operation because of that,” said Tabitha Montgomery, executive director of the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association in Minneapolis.
Community groups and churches are trying to fill the gap with donated supplies, but that’s a short-term fix. And Montgomery said she thinks the neighborhood will bear the scars of this moment for decades, even after the stores are rebuilt.
Graphic video shows idiot protestor trying to stop a FedEx truck that was pulling two trailers. The result was exactly what you would expect.
This just happened in St. Louis, Missouri. A protestor, who apparently does not understand the laws of physics, tried to stop a FedEx truck that was pulling two trailers.
For those of you who do understand the laws of physics, it ended exactly as you would expect.
This video was filmed by a guy named Jared Arms.
I don’t know how long Facebook will let this video stay up.
Warning: This video is very graphic.
Skip to 26:50
Original link: https://www.facebook.com/100004144026933/videos/1655324651282320/
Archived link: https://web.archive.org/save/https://www.facebook.com/100004144026933/videos/1655324651282320/
Note: I’d like to recommend that you visit Whatfinger News. It’s a really awesome website.
Blue Collar Logic channel at YouTube: “Name me a riot in recent decades that has broken out in a Republican controlled town”
I recommend watching this entire 7 minute video.
My favorite part is at 3:45, when he says:
“Name me a riot in recent decades that has broken out in a Republican controlled town.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBugfEBbEC0
Minneapolis vandalism targets include 189-unit affordable housing development
Minneapolis vandalism targets include 189-unit affordable housing development
The apartments were expected to hit the market later this year.
By Jim Buchta
May 28, 2020
The affordable housing development that burned late Wednesday in south Minneapolis was a six-story building with 189 units that was under construction and expected to open later this year.
The under-construction affordable housing development that burned in the widespread violence in south Minneapolis late Wednesday and early Thursday was to be a six-story rental building with 189 apartments for low-income renters, including more than three dozen for very low-income tenants.
Construction began last fall on Midtown Corner, which was expected to be completed and ready for occupancy this year. Late Wednesday the wood-framed upper floors of the building were fully engulfed in flames, with thick plumes of smoke that figured prominently in widely viewed photos of the riots. By Thursday morning, what had been an active construction site was reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes atop what was left of the concrete first-floor commercial space.
The redevelopment project was on the site of the former Rainbow Foods grocery store at Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue in south Minneapolis.
The developer, Twin Cities-based Wellington Management, declined to comment Thursday on the fate of the project.
Wellington has done several income-restricted rental projects throughout the Twin Cities on difficult-to-redevelop sites, including offices and an apartment building that are under construction along Penn Avenue in north Minneapolis.
Wellington has been a prolific developer and investor in the area for more than a decade. Over the years the company has developed several rental buildings in the Lake and Hiawatha corridor, and it has also invested in commercial projects including the Greenway Office Building and the Hi-Lake Shopping Center.
The fire also heavily damaged 7-Sigma, a high-tech manufacturing company that’s occupied a low-rise industrial building across the street from the Midtown Corner site for more than 30 years. The entire roof and upper floors of that brick building were destroyed, and water spilled out of broken windows on the lower floors as firefighters continued dousing the building with water early Thursday.
Barb Jeanetta is executive director of Alliance Housing, a nonprofit that has two rental buildings in the area, including Hiawatha Commons, an 80-unit low-income apartment building adjacent to Cub Foods and Target. Some of the first-floor retail tenants were looted and vandalized, but the building was largely unscathed.
“It’s just such a firestorm right now,” she said. “All in all, we came out pretty lucky.”
Muslim Call To Prayer To Be Blasted Over Major U.S. City Five Times A Day
Muslim Call To Prayer To Be Blasted Over Major U.S. City Five Times A Day
April 25, 2020
A Minneapolis neighborhood, which lies in controversial Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar’s district, will begin broadcasting the Muslim call to prayer five times a day over outdoor loudspeakers throughout the month of Ramadan, reports say.
The move is “believed to be the first publicly-broadcast call to prayer in a major US city,” al Jazeera English said in a post on Twitter.
The simple, short call – known as the adhan – marked an historical moment for Minneapolis and major cities across the United States, community members said. While the adhan is commonly broadcast throughout the Middle East, North Africa and other places, for many Muslims in the US, it is only heard inside mosques or community centres.
“There’s definitely a lot of excitement,” said Imam Abdisalam Adam, who is on the board of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque, from where the adhan will be broadcast.
“Some people see it as historic,” Adam told Al Jazeera. “To the point … that they’re not doing it, able to see it in their lifetime.”
The city granted a noise permit for the prayer.
“Tonight’s historic call to prayer in Minneapolis will bring comfort and remind the faithful and the neighborhood that as we are physically distant we can still be connected to our faith and mosque,” Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) Executive Director Jaylani Hussein said in a statement.
“The call to prayer is being issued via an amplified public address system on the rooftop of the Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood,” Biz Pac Review reported. “According to the Sahan Journal, the P.A. system and technical support necessary for the community-wide vocal calls were provided by First Avenue (a famous nightclub and music venue that became a national landmark of sorts after Prince used it as a location for several scenes in the movie “Purple Rain”). The city of Minneapolis issued a noise permit for the calls to prayer that start at sunrise and end at sunset.”
Cedar-Riverside is a neighborhood that in recent years has become one of the most densely populated areas of Islamic immigrants in the country, principally coming from Somalia and Ethiopia. It was in that neighborhood that two years ago, a group of Muslims was reported to be patrolling the area, confronting people who were not following tenets of Sharia law.
Locals have for years called the area “Little Mogadishu” and it is known to have been a recruiting ground for Islamic terrorists.
Some residents were not happy.
“Pathetic! People can’t go to church or sit in their cars and listen to the gospel, but this….Unf***ing believable,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“Yes! It is not ok for Christians to pray over loud speakers. Something to do with our constitution and not pushing another religion on to another. If we do it’s a guarantee law suit from the Islamic Terrorist org, CAIR. Nuts, right!?” wrote another.
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 